Lone Oak Community Center library volunteer Bill Helrigel will be selling a large selection of iris bulbs to raise money for new library books during the center’s last Big Country Breakfast fundraiser of the summer on Saturday, June 5 from 7:30 to 10 a.m.
“I ordered a lot of new bulbs,” said Helrigel, who has been selling the bulbs as a library fundraiser for the past three years. “There’s not much duplication of what I had last year.”
Varieties available include Black Dragons, Eye of the Tiger and Purple Siberian irises, which he said are sold in packages of six bulbs for $2.50 or 50 cents apiece.
“Many are tie-dyed with different colored swirls, like blue in white or brown on peach,” said Helrigel.
Helrigel will also be selling 125-year-old Gram Rogers iris bulbs, which he said came from a neighbor’s yard in Albion, Mich. When the neighbor, whom his children referred to as “Gram,” passed away, Helrigel said he inherited the rare and beautiful bulbs and his interest in the flower grew from there.
The only opportunities to purchase the bulbs are the June 5 sale and the Highway 127 Yard Sale Aug. 5-8, he said.
“We sold out at the (Highway 127) sale last year,” said Helrigel, who took orders at the sale for additional bulbs and shipped at least 20 boxes to locations spanning from Wisconsin to Alabama.
He said the money raised from the iris sale will be used to purchase current bestsellers for the Lone Oak library’s collection.
Lone Oak Community Center is at 1278 U.S. 127 and can be reached at 886-7250.